Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office spent considerable time chasing burglars in 2013 as the rate of home break-ins in Los Altos Hills unexpectedly rose.

The Sheriff’s Office responded to 40 incidents over the past 12 months. During the previous eight years, the officers reported an average of 22 burglaries annually.

“In the larger perspective of state and national averages, it’s actually quite low,” said Sheriff’s Office Capt. Kenneth Binder. “However, we feel that 40 burglaries a year is still too high for LAH.”

Although the victims of home crimes may never sleep soundly after their homes have been burglarized, the Sheriff’s Office identified and arrested 45 percent of the perpetrators. Binder noted that many other municipalities report solving only approximately 10 percent of cases.

The recent arrest of Nicole Sosa of San Jose, who allegedly broke into 11 Los Altos Hills residences by climbing through open windows, was a major coup for the Sheriff’s Office. Officers also apprehended two juveniles from Santa Rosa and Windsor as they attempted to vault a fence to escape the scene of a June burglary.

A number of cases remain unsolved, but surveillance video, like the footage provided by a Berry Hill Lane homeowner in December, allows the law enforcement team to identify criminals retroactively. Two of the three suspects in the video were identified, and other cases remain under investigation.

The Sheriff’s Office relies on the eyes and ears of residents in its crime-fighting efforts.

“Anywhere there are people, anywhere there are homes, there is going to be crime,” Binder said. “But we want to help people reduce the odds, and that’s what we’re doing.”

To keep residents apprised of crime prevention strategies, the Sheriff’s Office engages neighborhood watch groups and hosts an annual crime prevention forum, usually scheduled at town hall in April.

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